Steve Bogdanoff All images courtesy of Bogdanoff Gallery / www.bogdanoff.com American artist Steve Bogdanoff is known for his interpretive fresco secco paintings. (Fresco secco, where the artist applies paint to dried plaster, is one of the two classic fresco techniques. Buon fresco, which is the art of painting on freshly spread, moist lime plaster with pigments suspended in a water vehicle, is the other.) Influenced by ancient Greek art among others, Bogdanoff replicates in his own version of the fresco from scenes depicted in myriad wall murals, friezes, reliefs, and statues starting with the Greek Bronze Age through the end of the Renaissance. ABOVE: Traditional artist Steve Bogdanoff works on one of his unique frescos in his New Orleans studio. Bogdanoff has his frescos photographed, drum-scanned, and put on a CD. He then does all the image editing on his computer in preparation for his own digital prints on paper via inkjet printing in his New Orleans studio (on an Epson Stylus Pro 4000). In this storefront gallery, he displays not only his fresco originals but also his limited-edition prints, some of which are hand-embellished with acrylic washes. The prints have definitely become a hit, and Bogdanoff admits that a substantial part of his revenue comes from them. "I only use Epson products, as recommended by Epson," says Bogdanoff. "I use the Enhanced Matte Paper. I have tried other paper that was supposed to be "identical" to Epson's, however the quality was not satisfactory. Other matte paper and photo paper that I've experimented with left light banding, which did not show when using Epson paper. These bands showed up in my black backgrounds, mainly, but I imagine that it probably also hindered the quality of the image as a whole, even though it was not as obvious." ABOVE: Flying Fish #3, available as a fresco and also as a limited edition giclée and hand-embellished print. Inspired by the flying fish of Crete, the blue, yellow and white colors of Flying Fish #3 were commonly used in many ancient Greek wall murals. "Through a complexity of highlight and shadow," Bogdanoff continues, "I create a fossil-like appearance to my fish, which gives the fresco a contrast of the free-flowing movement of sea life and, at the same time, the illusion that the fish have been imbedded in rock, frozen in time. When enhancing this print with acrylics, I apply paint to the white and blue areas, and add touches of ochre and gold (non-metallic) to the rich mustard sections. Also, I go over the black lines with raw umber to intensify the appearance of fossils." ABOVE: Blue Bird, available as a fresco and also as a limited edition giclée and hand-embellished print. Blue Bird is inspired by a garden fresco from a palace on Crete, c. 1500 B.C. A blue bird is shown in a tranquil setting amongst vegetation. "I have incorporated the similarities between Crete and the Orient as reflected in my foliage design. When hand-embellishing this print, I paint over the branches, the green leafy images, the stalks shooting up from the bottom, the white of the eye, and hints of blues and violets throughout the feathers." ABOVE: Blue Monkey 8, one of Bogdanoff's images based on The Monkeys of Thera. The monkey theme is popular in frescoes throughout Crete and on the Aegean island of Thera, which is now known as Santorini. It is believed that the monkey motif originated in Crete and was later incorporated in art found at Akrotiri, a Bronze Age settlement. Artists from both locales used blue coloring to represent the monkey's coat and skin. The monkeys almost have a human-like quality. It is understood that the monkeys were looked upon by the Minoans and the inhabitants of Thera as sacred animals and servants to the gods. Bogdanoff's blue, red, and green monkey frescoes are inspired by these fascinating ancient images. In creating his compositions, he incorporates movements used in ballet and interpretive dance to project fluidity and grace through the monkeys' torsos, arms and legs. His tails are designed to convey the monkeys' actions and moods. He works in abstract shapes and designs to enhance the scene and interact with the monkeys. His backgrounds have a subtle shift in color midway between the top and bottom, to give the impression of landscape and sky or, in some instances, the illusion of dusk. Bogdanoff's goal is to provide the viewer with an animal unlike any seen in captivity or imagined by anthropologists or zoologists, neither primate nor human, evoking a presence that is mysterious, sensuous and timeless. CONTACT INFO: Steve Bogdanoff can be reached at: info@bogdanoff.com; website at: www.bogdanoff.com • for other Gallery Showcase examples • for Artist Interviews

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